3 UM scientists named Alfred P. Sloan Foundation research fellows

Three University of Michigan scientists are among the 126 professors in the U.S. and Canada named Tuesday as the 2014 Alfred P. Sloan Foundation research fellows.

The fellows are Emanuel Gull, assistant professor of physics; Pavel Nagorny, assistant professor of chemistry; and Nathaniel Szymczak, the Dow Corning Assistant Professor of Chemistry. The three researchers are in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.

The fellows, all in the early stages of their academic careers, were nominated by their peers and chosen by a panel of senior scholars. They received $50,000 each to further their research.

The three were the only fellows named from Michigan universities.

Gull's labuses simulations to improve the understanding of how behavior by electrons is behind quantum physical phenomena, such as magnets and superconductors.

"I'm very honored to be selected for this prestigious award," Gull said in a press release. "This is a very nice confirmation that the research I'm doing is interesting and important, but mostly I'm enthusiastic about the research this fellowship will allow me to perform."

Nagorny's research team focuses on discovering new processes to treat cancer and heart disease using both natural and unnatural therapeutic agents.

Szymczak's field is energy recycling and storage. His research group is working to develop molecular catalysts to make and break chemical bonds and is currently focusing on the regeneration of spent hydrogen storage materials.

"A long-term application of this approach is to find alternative catalysts, based on earth-abundant elements, to the currently used industrial catalysts, which use rare and expensive metal," he said.

The Sloan program recognizes the achievements of outstanding young scholars in science, mathematics, economics and computer science. Past recipients of Sloan research fellowships have gone on to win Nobel prizes, Fields Medals in mathematics and John Bates Clark Medals in economics.

The Sloan Foundation is a New York nonprofit established in 1934 by Alfred Pritchard Sloan Jr., the president and chief executive officer of General Motors Corp.